The Extra Strategist’s Royal Road Chapter 174
This festival was a good opportunity for me.
Although I wasn’t particularly fond of festivals, it held more strategic significance than enjoyment. As it was a large festival, it was a good chance both to find people and for people to find me.
The schedule was quite busy.
Above all, there was the Martial Arts Tournament.
The Martial Arts Tournament shared its origins with Baien being humanity’s last bastion.
At that time, with all sorts of adventurers and martial artists gathered in Baien, there were endless discussions about who was stronger.
In response, the kingdom decided to host a martial arts competition called the Martial Arts Tournament to boost people’s hopes and provide entertainment.
Its history had now surpassed 200 years.
The academy was also buzzing with this event.
The kids were whispering while stealing glances at me.
“Are Mello and Wade the only participants from our class…?”
“Wade, he didn’t really cheat on the exam, did he? You know, Rinoa Branford could have bribed the examiner.”
“I think so too! How could that failing student suddenly achieve such grades? Does it make sense that he’s on par with the special admissions students?”
Groundless slander was rampant. I suppose that shows how important one’s usual conduct is.
Anyway, I was set to participate in the Martial Arts Tournament along with Rinoa.
Since the academy freshmen were still inexperienced, they were to participate in pairs.
The matches would also be only among freshmen.
In other words, it was just kids fighting, so it wasn’t an event that particularly made me nervous.
However, Rinoa seemed to think differently.
Judging by her telling me to come to the training grounds as soon as classes ended, it seemed she wanted to practice.
The training grounds were teeming with nobles participating in the Martial Arts Tournament and their transfer student partners.
“Wade, hurry up!”
Rinoa gestured as if fanning.
She was excited like a child.
When I asked why, she replied as if it were obvious.
“Why, it’s the Martial Arts Tournament! We’re participating in it!?”
Rinoa was grinning as if she had come to an amusement park. It seems to be quite an event for the people of the Ellan Kingdom.
Forgetting that she was supposed to be playing the role of a villain, Rinoa was engrossed in magic training.
“Haaat!”
Shashashak! Wind blades mercilessly slicing the target.
She smiled with satisfaction at the sight of the scarecrow being cut into pieces.
Seeing her magic, other students also showed wariness.
It meant that Rinoa’s level was not bad.
Above all, it was the characteristic of wind magic. Wind magic was uniquely difficult to shape, but it was unrivaled in terms of fast casting speed and low magic consumption.
Once you know how to shape it, you can do your part with just one Wind Cutter like Rinoa used.
“Did you see that?”
“Not bad.”
“Hehe, you said you use arcane magic, right? I’ll have the upper hand in destructive power.”
“Is that so?”
I created an arcane sphere in each hand.
Then, concentrating, I transformed those spheres into crescent-shaped blades.
“Hiyah!”
I threw those two blades at the target. My arcane blades cut the scarecrow into an X shape.
“…”
Rinoa was staring at the scene in bewilderment.
“Y-you. When did you… Even if arcane magic is easier to shape…”
“I got the hang of it while trying to turn the sphere into a spear last time.”
“Got the hang of it? Just from that!?”
“It’s not to brag, but I’m confident in figuring out the knack of things.”
Rinoa couldn’t continue her words.
“Since I’ve shown you this much, I’ll try one more.”
I decided to attempt a new magic I had only been conceptualizing.
After creating an arcane sphere in each hand, I imbued one with the property of vibration and the other with the property of emission, then combined the two spheres.
Crackle! The arcane magic power went wild as it fused. I controlled the energy with both hands, and after it stabilized, I spread my hands towards the target.
Then, from the large arcane sphere, a fierce energy wave was generated and shot at the target.
Papapapak! The scarecrow shattered into pieces with a rough sound.
“Phew! It worked.”
Although I had only been thinking about it, actually succeeding felt rewarding.
“Ah…”
Rinoa was watching the scene with her mouth wide open.
It wasn’t just her. By now, people in the training grounds were looking in my direction.
Rinoa shrieked. “What was that just now!?”
“What do you mean? It’s the energy emission magic I learned from the book.”
“Energy emission is one of the final stages of beginner magic! How could you do it so easily…!”
“I guess I have talent.”
It’s worth mentioning again, but it was strange that Ars didn’t have talent. That’s why I was intentionally learning magic by skipping two steps at a time, so to speak.
Thinking that Ars and I could do it.
“…?”
Suddenly feeling an intense gaze, I turned around to see Princess Roza and Prince Joseph.
They were staring at me with meaningful eyes.
Princess Roza with eyes that were both intense and complex, Prince Joseph with eyes full of wariness.
Besides them, the so-called special admission students were also stealing glances at me. As if scouting a competitor for the Martial Arts Tournament.
I looked around for a woman named Erina, one of the special admission students about whom I was a bit curious, but she didn’t seem to be here.
It was unnatural that this woman, who was Princess Roza’s partner, wasn’t here when the princess was, but well, it wasn’t my business.
* * *
The festival lasted for as long as 15 days.
I suppose that’s befitting of the kingdom’s largest festival.
People from all over gathered in Baien.
I was hoping there would be vassals among the crowd and was making inquiries.
The Martial Arts Tournament would start from the 5th day, so there was time until then.
However, the first three days were fruitless.
On the night of the third day. I dragged my tired body to the Mercenary Guild. There was almost no more information to be gained here, but the communication network I had set up with Gaspar was mediated through this Mercenary Guild.
It had been almost a month since I lost contact with Gaspar, so without much expectation, I asked the guild staff for information.
Then came an unexpected answer.
“Ah, come to think of it, a letter did arrive from Ramdamen. Ars Elaine… that’s you, right?”
“That’s right!”
“Give me 500 rilangs.”
“Here it is.”
I paid 500 rilangs and hurriedly opened the letter.
The letter was written in characters from our continent, not this one. It meant Gaspar had written it himself.
I found a spot in a corner of the tavern and read the letter.
The letter, typical of Gaspar, was concise and to the point.
First was the result of the search.
─The Lost Land is a place that deserves to be called a demon realm outside of humanity. I think only Ilya Anfei or Yumir could actively survive in such a place. However, even in such places, people live in groups, holding their breath. If you can meet people before encountering monsters, it might not be impossible to stay in the Lost Land. So next time, I plan to go deeper.
I could roughly guess how it was if Gaspar called it a demon realm outside of humanity.
‘The Lost Land, huh…’
If Gaspar were to discover the vassals in that Lost Land, I would have to change my course of action.
In other words, it meant that the missing people might be in the Lost Lands of the Eastern or Southern Continents.
While praying that this wasn’t the case, I couldn’t deny the possibility.
I moved on to the next part of the letter.
It seems Gaspar had compiled information obtained through his subordinates after returning from searching the Lost Land.
Those subordinates have now given up thievery and work as caravan guards or at construction sites, he says.
─I obtained some interesting information from my subordinates. There’s an island called Elganda near the Northern Continent. According to information from there, there seems to have been someone who caused a disturbance with merchants, wanting to get on a ship. I was concerned, so I met with the merchant from that time to investigate. I think the person who caused that commotion might be Aggert. Now, information about him has been cut off, perhaps because he’s moved inland, but if things continue like this, we might be able to make contact soon. If that happens, I’ll use Aggert under my command. I’ll train him and search the Lost Land. But for now, I’ll send him to your side once. You should also pray that it’s Aggert.
Aggert.
If it really was Aggert, it wouldn’t be strange for him to have caused a commotion with his stubbornness.
‘If Aggert has been found…!’
Mother, who was transferred along with Aggert, might be there too.
In the current situation where searching for non-combat personnel was the top priority, discovering Mother would be a great comfort.
I received writing paper and an envelope from the guild person and wrote a reply to send to Gaspar.
After sending that reply, the night had already deepened completely, so I decided to quietly return to the mansion.
It was then.
“…”
A gaze watching me.
In our continent, such surveillance gazes were commonplace, and because various factions sent surveillance, I didn’t pay attention to it from the start, but it was different here.
I immediately noticed which side had attached the surveillance.
‘Is it Prince Joseph? Or it might be that fake Eonia.’
Whatever it was, it was annoying.
I concealed my presence, shook off the tail, and returned to the mansion.
* * *
The surveillance that started to follow.
Irritated, I headed straight to where Lucretia was the next morning.
She was thrusting a spear while sweating, probably training in martial arts, and raised her eyebrows at my appearance.
“What is it? At this hour.”
“I came because I have something to tell you.”
“And that is…?”
“Withdraw the surveillance on me immediately.”
“…”
Lucretia was silent for a moment, then shook her head as if denying it.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about. What surveillance?”
“Fine. If you don’t know, then I suppose it won’t matter if I kill them all. I’ll take it as such.”
As I turned my body to leave, she hurriedly stopped me.
“Wait a moment!”
“Have you changed your mind now?”
“Umm… If it displeased you, I apologize. But from my position, it was unavoidable. It’s only natural to try to find out what intentions someone as strong as you might have, hiding your skills and identity while infiltrating the academy, isn’t it?”
“I don’t have any particular intentions.”
“This measure is to find that out. If it’s truly revealed that you’re harmless, I’ll withdraw the people I’ve placed at any time.”
“No. If you keep them in place, I’ll deal with them all tonight.”
“And you think you can be safe after doing that…!”
“I think I can be plenty safe, actually?”
It was burdensome for me too to confront her head-on like this, but if I didn’t subdue her here, things would get troublesome later.
I met her gaze without backing down.
Lucretia sighed and nodded. “Alright. Let’s not do direct surveillance for the time being. But I hope you can understand if we at least investigate your activities.”
“Let me tell you in advance, I have nothing to do with the Salvation Alliance. Don’t do unnecessary things.”
“I hope that’s true.”
It seemed the conversation went well for now.
Before leaving, I decided to give some light advice.
“By the way, about that spear technique. The way you’re holding the spear is wrong from the start.”
“…Pardon?”
“I said your grip is wrong. When you’re holding a spear in a confrontation, it should be like this.”
I pulled out a spear from the display case and demonstrated the posture.
“I understand that your posture is higher because you’re facing monsters larger than yourself, but if you only train like that, you won’t get the basics right. Now, if you hold the spear like this and lower your stance…”
Whish whish whish! The spear tip cutting through the air.
“It’s more concise and faster, right? Even against monsters larger than yourself, this stance is ultimately the correct answer. Understand?”
“I, I see…”
Lucretia was blankly watching the trajectory of my spear.
I put down the spear and was about to go on my way.
However, she hurriedly stopped me.
“W-wait a moment! Then how about this stance? How should I do it?”
“There are many problems. Really.”
“Tell me. How should I do it?”
“I’m not your teacher, you know?”
“Don’t be like that!”
Lucretia spoke as if clinging to me, as if there had been almost no one who gave her appropriate advice until now.
Since we weren’t close enough for me to provide that much service, I decided to just tease her and then leave.
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